Is this destiny?

Vasily's confusion increased at JoAnna's words. "Why would I be busy?"

"Isn't your dream to get your claws into the Voronin family?", JoAnna asked.

Vasily's brows furrowed. "Can you stop with riddles and explain what is going on?"

Sophia was the one to respond. "We got access to the internal data of the Voronin family. Every Elder is getting information for the territories they control. We expect to hear from you if you can manage your side or you need reinforcements." Sophia paused and observed Vasily for a second. "It seems you don't know about this."

Vasily pressed his lips into a line, silently confirming Sophia's words.

Sophia didn't think much of it and she continued: "Our main goal is to understand the extent of the reach of the Voronin family and to see what we will do about it. This is the first time we have so many details about their spies and if we can use them against Voronins by feeding them false information that would be a great bonus. We should also think about weeding them out when the time is right. Everyone is aware that we started an all-out war the moment we attacked them in order to save Aiden, and this is our chance to gain an advantage, but we need to act swiftly. If they attack us first before we process this data, it will be of no use."

Vasily's expression flashed with something unknown, but JoAnna picked it up. She was always good at reading people and situations, to the point of predicting what will happen next.

"You really didn't know. Ivan didn't tell you?", JoAnna asked Vasily. "What is the point of an assistant if he does not do his work? He should go through your correspondence. Or is it possible that you don't trust him to go through the email you are receiving as an Elder?"

"I told him more than once to get two assistants, but he refused while saying that no one can be trusted…", Konstantin mumbled.

"That might be true. But if you have more than one assistant, they can keep each other in check.", Sophia said.

Vasily ignored their talk about assistant recommendations. If they knew how many times his own people betrayed him, they would not talk like that. Vasily trusts no one and the fewer people know what he is up to, the safer he feels. He lost count of how many so-called allies tried to backstab him and he knows there are more waiting for the right opportunity. The thought that Ivan might be one of them flashed in Vasily's mind and it was difficult to suppress that unpleasant feeling.

However, Ivan has access to the calls and emails Vasily receives as the Elder of the Lebedev family.

Vasily is aware that anyone who is not a mindless sheep will have his own ideas. But if the ideas of people around Vasily go against his interests to the point of them working against him, he needs to cut his losses. Vasily thought about the areas he and Ivan disagree with. But first thing first… there are things happening right now, and he needs more information.

"When did you send this data?", Vasily asked.

"Hmm…", Sophia hummed while checking the time. "We started sending first batches around 3 AM and it's still coming. We are looking through it and deciding to which Elder to forward it in order to optimize the process. If we send you something related to Africa by mistake, please let us know, or forward it to the right person. We are trying our best, but with so much data, some mistakes are inevitable."

Vasily had an idea that this is related to Sarah and her mission, but he wanted to make sure. "Is the information reliable?"

JoAnna didn't like that Vasily is doubting this. Sarah and Aiden are out there, risking their lives.

Before JoAnna could burst her opinion at Vasily, Sophia responded: "It will be up to you to check. Since it's for your territory, that should not be difficult to do."

Vasily flashed a smile, approving of Sophia's answer. You should never trust the information blindly, and everything should be checked. Milena's daughters are smart and capable. They definitely belong at the top of this organization, and more.

Thinking of capable people, his thoughts wandered to Ivan. Where is he? How is it possible that he didn't tell Vasily about this?

Vasily waved a 'bye' absentmindedly and walked out.

JoAnna and Sophia exchanged confused glances.

"Something is off…", JoAnna mumbled while pointing with her chin toward the door through which Vasily left.

"Something is always off with Vasily.", Sophia said.

JoAnna agreed with this. To say that their Uncle is unstable and moody is an understatement. No one knows what is going on in his head.

As soon as Vasily stepped out of the main villa, he took his phone and dialed Ivan. Without ringing, it went straight to Ivan's voicemail: "You have reached Ivan. I can't answer now, if it's important, leave a message or try this number..."

The second number was in the office, and Vasily had no intention of dialing it.

The lack of ringing was a sign that Ivan's phone is not available; either out of the service area or powered off. It does not make sense that Ivan is out of the service area, so that leaves Ivan with his phone powered off.

Vasily wondered, why would Ivan turn off his phone? Is he still sleeping? That would not explain why he turned off his phone. As his assistant, Ivan should be always available. What is going on?

Vasily went to his villa, straight to Ivan's room, only to find it empty. The bed was neatly made so either Ivan didn't sleep there, or he was up early.

Vasily told himself not to overthink Ivan's absence.

Actually, if Vasily didn't go to the main villa to see what is going on, he would probably not notice Ivan's absence until breakfast, which is usually at 8:30 AM.

When at the main base, Vasily starts his normal days with exercises and gets ready for the day without being interrupted. Unless Ivan alerts Vasily that something is going on, Vasily does not check his messages before 8 AM. He likes this routine because it allows him to spend the night without unnecessary interruptions.

However, Ivan should be aware of the important data that started arriving from 3 AM and he should wake up Vasily for it. After all, the Voronins are their biggest adversaries and if there is something this big, Vasily wants to be part of it, and Ivan knows that.

Vasily decided to go to the security room, and he found one of his guards there.

"Is Ivan in the villa?"

The guard swiftly typed on the keyboard. "No. Ivan left at 0:17 AM and he didn't return."

"Let me know when he gets back.", Vasily said and made his way out.

Vasily got his phone, thinking of calling Ivan again, but decided not to. Instead, he went to his study and decided to look at the data himself.

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